Letters: A tale of two bridges, rates hikes

A Gisborne bridge, modelled after a waka, is little used or visited, according to one reader. Photo / Gisborne Herald

Letters to the Editor

OPINION

A tale of two bridges

Here is something for locals to think about when deciding to vote in the council elections.

It’s a tale of two bridges – one in Auckland and the other in Gisborne.

In Auckland, it’s the newly opened Te Kopua o Hiku former Panmure footbridge, while here it’s our so-called “thousand-year” Puhi Kaiti waka bridge.

The old Panmure footbridge was closed in July 2023 and the new Te Kopua o Hiku bridge has just been officially opened, two years to the date.

It is 65m long by 3m wide, designed with iwi input and has a light show responding to the changing weather.

To say the old and new bridges were and are well-used and appreciated is an understatement.

In Gisborne, the 24m waka bridge was one of the ideas given the light of day via the Tuia 2000 event and is still waiting to be declared open.

The Auckland structure, at almost three times the size of the Gisborne one, was lifted into place in December.

Cost – $6 million, with decorative lighting and associated landscaping.

The Gisborne structure, so some say, needs finishing touches five-plus years later.

Cost – $3.83m.

The waka bridge goes nowhere, and from my observation, it is little used or visited.

So ask yourselves this: who is delivering value for money? Who is delivering something of use? Something that everyone wanted?

Think about this and other council-related issues when you get around to deciding who to vote for, or perhaps – perish the thought – whether voting makes any difference.

Roger Handford

Gisborne

Rates hikes

Across New Zealand, councils are contributing significantly to inflation through unsustainable rates increases.

Statistics New Zealand reports that local authority rates accounted for 13% of total national inflation of 2.7% in the 12 months to the June 2025 quarter – a figure I believe should alarm every household.

While national inflation sat at 2.7% in the year to June 2025, rates increased by 12.2%. Over three years, the cumulative rate rises total 34.5%, more than double overall inflation.

This represents a massive financial strain on ratepayers who are already dealing with high living costs.

Councils, unlike businesses or households, face no real constraints. They simply raise rates to cover expanding budgets, often including bloated administration, consultants and projects that go far beyond essential services. Hastings, for instance, imposed a 37% rates hike over just two years.

I believe there are solutions. Rate increases should be capped at the rate of inflation unless higher increases are approved through binding referendums. Full transparency of council spending must also be required.

Local government should not operate as if households have endless capacity to pay. Until councils are held to account, families will continue to carry the consequences of decisions they had no meaningful say in.

Kerry Watson

Wellsford

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